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    Knowing Your Coverage – Rental Cars

    15 December 2023
    Julie Couglin
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    Categories: Uncategorized

    The holidays are upon us, and with that, brings road trips, long-distance travel, and the possibility of needing to rent a vehicle. Imagine this, you and your family decide to take a cross-country Christmas trip which includes flights and that dreaded airport rental car experience. You finally make it to the counter after traversing the long lines, and the rental car employee asks you the question you were hoping to avoid, “will you be purchasing our rental car insurance coverage today”. You freeze in a panic because truthfully, you’ve never taken the time to understand if it’s necessary or not. 

    The answer to this question can be complex, and it often depends on your individual insurance policy. This is where an independent insurance agent can be a valuable resource. An independent insurance agent is a licensed professional who works with multiple insurance companies to find the best coverage and rates for their clients. They can help you navigate the complexities of rental car insurance and determine whether you need to purchase additional coverage when asked.

    Although standard auto insurance policies may extend to rented vehicles, you should never assume you are covered. Picking up the phone and calling your friendly independent insurance agent may save you some major headaches later. They will gladly assist in examining your insurance policies, for example, checking to see if you have liability, collision, and/or comprehensive car insurance. Liability, collision, and comprehensive insurance are the three main coverage options when purchasing auto insurance. Although having all three coverages is not always required, it does provide the most robust coverage and protection in the event of an accident.

    • Liability Insurance: provides coverage if you damage or injure another person or their personal property.
    • Collision Insurance: provides coverage if your vehicle is involved in a collision, either with another vehicle or object.
    • Comprehensive Insurance: provides coverage if your car is damaged by a variety of exposures such as theft, vandalism, or natural disasters.

    In many cases, your independent insurance agent can help explore if your auto policy will cover administrative fees, loss of use, or towing charges. This can be helpful in the event of your rental car being lost, stolen, or damaged. Furthermore, they will likely review your renters’ or homeowners’ policy as well to see if there is coverage extended in the event your personal belongings are lost or damaged while traveling. Your homeowners or renters’ policy covers your personal belongings from theft, fire, or vandalism within your home and sometimes provides off-premises coverage that can extend coverage to outside of your residence. So, imagine you come out of a restaurant after enjoying a beautiful and peaceful dinner with friends and family, only to find your rental car was broken into—the window shattered, and your personal belongings gone. Your homeowners or renters’ policy may help cover a percentage of your losses—always check with your agent to see what your personal renters or homeowners’ policy will cover.

    It’s important to note that rental car insurance purchased directly from the rental company is often intended to supplement the insurance you already carry. Rental car companies generally offer four different coverage options:

    1. Supplemental liability insurance: most rental car companies require you to have the minimum liability coverage required by the state you are renting your vehicle in. Sometimes, you do not have adequate coverage, so they may require you to buy supplemental liability insurance. If you generally carry a high liability limit, for example, $250/$500, you likely will NOT need this additional protection.
    2. Loss damage waiver (LDW)/Collision damage waiver (CDW): This is not insurance, but rather coverage they are offering by way of a document that you sign, alleviating your financial responsibility should your rental vehicle be damaged or stolen. This also encompasses loss of use coverage if the rental company charges you for time the damaged car could not be used while being repaired. It’s important to note that the LDW portion may become void if the incident that caused the damage was due to reckless behavior, speeding, or the rental vehicle being driven on unpaved roads.
    3. Personal accident insurance: This is meant to cover the driver and any passengers within the rented vehicle for any medical bills caused by an auto accident. This coverage may be useful if you do not carry health insurance or personal injury protection insurance.
    4. Personal effects coverage: This covers any personal belongings that are stolen from your rental vehicle. Remember, if you already have renters or homeowners’ insurance, this may already be covered under your policy.

    Overall, the coverage offered by rental car companies are oftentimes coverages you already pay for and have through your personal home and auto policies. To avoid paying for coverage you already have, review your policy with your agent before renting a vehicle.

    One last avenue we may also suggest checking is if your credit card provider extends any type of rental car coverage. Many reputable credit card companies offer rental car insurance to their customers as a perk. To utilize this secondary form of coverage, they advise you to put the total amount of the rental car purchase on your credit card. When doing so, many credit card companies will require you to deny any insurance offered by the rental car company to access their coverage. In the event your rental car is in a covered incident, your credit card company may help cover costs of damage or theft up to a certain dollar amount. In short, call your credit card company, let them know you plan to rent a vehicle, and let them walk you through the coverage options they offer as well. In general, credit card rental insurance is classified as a secondary form of coverage so they may ask that you lean on your personal auto, homeowners, or rental coverage first.

    As you can see, an independent insurance agent can be a valuable resource when it comes to understanding rental car coverage. They can help you assess your insurance needs, review your policy, and explore other options for coverage. An independent agent can also help you understand the risks associated with declining rental car coverage. If you’re involved in an accident while driving a rental car, you could be responsible for paying for damages and other costs out of pocket. An independent agent can help you weigh the potential costs of purchasing additional coverage against the potential costs of being uninsured. If you’re planning to rent a car soon, consider reaching out to an independent agent to help you navigate the complexities of rental car insurance. If you do not currently work with an independent insurance agent and would like to experience the value firsthand, please visit us at www.dimondbros.com

    Written by Kellie Eastham – Vice President of Personal Lines at Dimond Bros. Insurance

    This article is not intended to be exhaustive, nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice.

    The Importance in Building a Safety Culture

    1 December 2023
    Julie Couglin
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    Categories: Uncategorized

    Of course, workplace safety is important to you. But how important is it to your employees? If you don’t know, it may be time to evaluate the safety culture at your business and think about what you can do to improve it.

    What is a Safety Culture?

    A safety culture is the shared beliefs, practices and mindsets that shape behavior at an organization in a positive way.

    A safety culture sets the standard for overall safety at your company. For example, if the head chef at your restaurant carries knives blade-up while walking through the kitchen, that tells the rest of the kitchen staff that safe knife handling is not a priority and that they can carry a knife any way they choose. This unsafe behavior is perpetuated by new employees who think this is an acceptable thing to do.

    But if the head chef is diligent about health and safety in the kitchen (and always carries knives close to his or her side with the blade down), that attitude will influence the rest of the staff and create a culture of safety.

    Why Should I Implement a Safety Culture?

    According to OSHA, an established safety culture can reduce your injury and illness costs by 20 to 40 percent. When it comes to the costs associated with safety, consider these statistics from OSHA:

    • Employers pay almost $1 billion per week for direct workers’ compensation costs alone, which comes straight out of company profits.
    • Injuries and illnesses increase workers’ compensation and retraining costs.
    • Lost productivity from injuries and illnesses costs companies roughly $63 billion each year.

    If you have high workers’ compensation costs or your premium increases every year, analyzing the effectiveness of your company’s safety culture is a good way to start controlling these costs.

    How Can I Motivate My Employees to Care?

    You can motivate your employees to care about safety by tying it directly to compensation or incentives. Reward employees who err on the side of safety over efficiency. But make sure you understand the difference between reward and recognition—you don’t want employees doing something just because they know they’ll get something tangible in return.

    A strong safety culture with appropriate recognition and rewards will inspire employees to look out for one another and point out unsafe behaviors or situations. Everyone will feel responsible for safety and pursue it on a daily basis by going beyond the “call of duty” to identify unsafe conditions and behaviors, and to intervene to correct them.

    Where Do I Start?

    Your first step to promoting a safety culture is to contact Dimond Bros. Insurance today. We can provide you with the roadmap you need to get started and help you along the way, with a portfolio of hand-picked resources to share with your employees. 

    Dan McNeely, CIC – Dimond Bros. Insurance Executive Vice President of Sales

    This article is not intended to be exhaustive, nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice.

    The Farm Insurance Landscape is changing!

    17 November 2023
    Julie Couglin
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    Categories: Uncategorized

    Over the past 6 months, the insurance industry has seen unprecedented changes occurring on policy renewals due to weather, reinsurance, inflation, and regulatory concerns. 

    Most insurance carriers are instituting increases in premiums to combat losses that have exponentially increased over the past 2 years.  Additionally, many insurance carriers are making major changes to policy coverages which you should be aware of, including (but not limited to):

    • Increased wind/hail deductibles
    • “Cosmetic Damage” exclusions and exclusions to “replacement cost” coverage on roofs
    • Increased scrutiny on building upkeep and condition
    • Revised and stricter billing arrangements (and a resistance to reinstate policies that have lapsed for non-pay)

    With all these challenges present, the need for great insurance advice is higher than ever.  Our staff is available to walk you through the changes occurring in this unique time and offer suggestions and options to make sure you’re adequately protected.  Additionally, while many other agencies are out of options for insureds, Dimond Bros. has strong connections with many farm carriers and will continue to offer you the best products and services they may have available.

    If you have farm and agricultural insurance needs, know we have a team of people prepared to discuss your needs with you.  Our goal is to help you find insurance solutions that simplify your life.  Together, we’ll find relevant insurance options for you to choose from, that will help protect you and what you care about.  To request a quote or connect with one of our Farm and Agriculture Insurance team members visit https://dimondbros.com/farm-ag-services/

    Scott M Jensen

    Vice President of Farm and Ag Services

    scott.jensen@dimondbros.com

    This article is not intended to be exhaustive, nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice.

    Open Enrollment Creates an Opportunity to Expand and Promote Your Benefit Package

    3 November 2023
    Julie Couglin
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    Categories: Uncategorized

    While employers already invest significant time and resources researching and designing their benefits plans, many feel like there is still work to be done to ensure benefits are impactful to workers. In fact, research has found that only 30% of HR leaders believe their company does a good job of improving benefits utilization. Fortunately, open enrollment season encourages organizations to assess their benefits challenges and develop a plan to tackle them.

    Organizational challenges will vary, but here are some of the top priorities and perceived challenges from survey respondents:

    • Prioritizing preventive care and chronic illness management programs to help lower employees’ medical costs.
    • Increasing employee communication and adopting various communication methods.
    • Making more thoughtful decisions through better expert guidance from brokers.
    • Finding cost savings with benefits during open enrollment.

    Benefits leaders continue to be challenged to provide valuable offerings that appeal to a diverse workforce, all while offering benefits cost savings for the organization.

    Employer Takeaways

    Open enrollment is a crucial period for both employers and employees. It’s when employees can make important decisions about their benefits and an opportunity for employers to engage with their workforce and highlight the value of employer-sponsored benefits.

    As organizations continue to adapt to evolving workforce needs and changing regulations in 2024, open enrollment is more critical than ever. Surveyed employers who said they’re effective at driving benefits utilization shared the following strategies:

    • Track benefits usage through participant rates and employee surveys.
    • Take specific actions to drive benefits usage, such as customizing a benefits website portal based on each employee’s unique needs and offering a concierge to personalize employee care.
    • Promote and encourage preventive care, screenings and wellness.
    • Leverage various benefits-related communication methods (e.g., email, digital benefits tools, employee resource groups and employee champions).
    • Communicate in advance—as early as six months ahead of time—and often about open enrollment throughout the year.

    During open enrollment season and beyond, employers should monitor employee benefits trends, utilization, and spending.

    To see how Dimond Bros Insurance can assist you with your Open Enrollment, please reach out Mike Holley, Vice President of Life and Health at mike.holley@dimondbros.com

    This article is not intended to be exhaustive, nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice.

    Take the “Hard” Out of the Hard Market: Tips and Strategies for Personal Lines Consumers

    20 October 2023
    Julie Couglin
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    Categories: Uncategorized

    From the Desk of Kellie Eastham – Vice President of Personal Lines, Dimond Bros. Insurance

    Have you heard that right now we are in a “Hard Insurance Market”? Do you know what it means? Are you tired of hearing about it? Do you wonder how it will impact you? As professionals in the industry, we spend time understanding the industry and market and how it will impact our customers (both current and future).

    A hard market is a term utilized in the insurance industry when there is any combination of the following: increased premium costs for insureds, stricter underwriting criteria, less capacity, restricted terms of coverage, and less competition among insurance carriers for new business. If you’ve received your renewal recently or are trying to quote your insurance, you are probably experiencing some of the above. This hard market is impacting nearly all lines of insurance.

    Personal lines of insurance typically cover individuals and families for things like auto, home, and personal liability. In a hard market, insurers are more selective about the risks they are willing to insure, and they charge higher premiums for coverage. This means that if you’re looking for personal lines coverage, you may be facing higher rates or reduced coverage options.

    So why is the personal lines insurance market currently hardening? There are a few key reasons. One is an increase in catastrophes like hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires, which has led to more claims and losses for insurers. Additionally, there have been legal and regulatory environment changes, such as new privacy regulations and increased scrutiny of insurers’ underwriting practices. Finally, economic conditions have played a role, with low interest rates and a soft market in recent years leading some insurers to underprice their policies.

    Now that we understand what a hard insurance market means for personal lines and why it’s happening, what can you do to navigate it? Here are a few tips:

    1. It can be tempting to shop around for a new personal lines insurance carrier when the market is tough. However, it may be in your best interest to stick with your current carrier. Not only do you already have an established relationship with them, but they may also be willing to offer discounts or loyalty incentives to keep you as a customer. Additionally, switching carriers can come with its own set of headaches and potential gaps in coverage. So before you make any hasty decisions, consider the benefits of staying put during a hard market.
    2. If you have multiple personal lines policies – like auto and home insurance – consider bundling them with one insurer. This can often lead to discounts on your premiums.
    3. Evaluate your risk management. Insurers are more selective about the risks they are willing to insure in a hard market. By improving your risk management practices – like installing a home security system or taking a defensive driving course – you can make yourself a more attractive risk for insurers.

    By understanding what the hard insurance market means and why it’s happening, you can take steps to protect yourself and mitigate your risks. If you are currently looking for an insurance partner to help you navigate these times, we would love the opportunity to review your needs. Our goal is to offer insurance solutions that simplify your life. Together, we’ll find relevant insurance options that protect you and what you care about. Please visit our Personal Lines page to request a quote or contact us to connect with one of our Personal Lines team members.

    To contact Kellie, email us at feedback@dimondbros.com

    This article is not intended to be exhaustive, nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice.

    Cybersecurity Awareness Month

    13 October 2023
    Julie Couglin
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    Categories: Uncategorized

    October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.  During this annual event, government and cybersecurity leaders and the insurance community come together to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity.  Here are four simple steps you or employees can follow to help keep you and/or your business cybersecure.

    1. Use strong passwords and a password manager.

    Strong passwords are critical to protecting data. They are long, random and unique and include all four character types (uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols).  Password managers are a powerful tool to help employees create such passwords for their accounts.  Plus, they make storing passwords and user IDs easy.

    2. Turn on multifactor authentication (MFA).

    Employees need more than a password to protect their online accounts, and enabling MFA makes your organization significantly less likely to get hacked.  Enable MFA on all online accounts that offer it, especially email, social media and financial accounts, and use authentication apps and hardware tokens for added security.

    3. Recognize and report phishing.

    Phishing emails, texts and calls are the number one way data gets compromised.  Employees should be cautious of unsolicited emails, texts or calls asking for personal information.  They should not share sensitive information or credentials over the phone or email unless necessary and avoid clicking on links or opening attachments sent from unknown sources. They should also verify the authenticity of requests by contacting the individual or organization through a trusted channel and report phishing attempts to the appropriate authorities or IT department.

    4. Update software.

    Ensuring your organization’s software is up to date is the best way to make sure your organization has the latest security patches and updates on its devices.  Regularly check manually for updates if automatic updates are not available and keeping operating systems, antivirus software, web browsers and applications up to date.

    We are here to help.  Our goal is to offer insurance solutions that simplify your life.  Together, we’ll find relevant insurance options that protect you and what you care about.  Request a quote or contact us to connect with one of our Cyber Insurance team members.   Contact us today for more cybersecurity guidance and cyber insurance solutions. 

    To contact our team, email us at feedback@dimondbros.com

    This article is not intended to be exhaustive, nor should any discussion or opinions be construed as legal advice. Readers should contact legal counsel or an insurance professional for appropriate advice.